Episcopal continues to be one of the premier athletic programs in the Southwest Preparatory Conference.

For the second straight year, the Knights finished third in the co-ed standings in the SPC Athletic Directors' Cup, an annual sports competition among the conference's 19 private schools in Texas and Oklahoma. Episcopal trailed only rivals St. John's and Kinkaid in the final standings during the 2013-14 school year.

"The fact three Houston schools finished 1-2-3 speaks volumes about the quality of competition," said Jason Grove, who wrapped up his first season as Episcopal's director of athletics. "We really push each other in every sport."

Of the three SPC powerhouses, Episcopal probably made the most progress.

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Best of the best: Episcopal won a pair of SPC team titles during the 2013-14 school year in softball and boys track and field.

Not done yet: Baseball players John Henry Styles and Bryce Packard inked national letters of intent with Stanford University and McNeese State University, respectively. Episcopal also had signees in football, basketball, volleyball and softball.

The Knights achieved an unprecedented "Triple Crown" – a sweep of the SPC large-school football and Division I boys basketball and baseball titles – and won boys track and field during the 2012-13 season. However, they weren't a factor in a number of sports.

A year later, Episcopal claimed only two championships – Division I girls softball and boys track and field – but Grove felt the Knights were more consistent across the board. Episcopal ranked fourth among SPC teams in both boys and girls sports, respectively.

"We made big improvement in sports like cross country and soccer," Grove said. "The majority of our teams were in the top half of the conference."

The softball team, led by veteran coach Kim Randolph, collected its 14th title and first since 2007 with a 6-2 victory over Houston Christian in the finals.

With Marc Klinkerman inheriting Episcopal's track and field program from retired coaching legend Dick Phillips, the Knights doubled the point total of runner-up St. John's for their second straight boys' crown. Episcopal produced several individual SPC champs – junior Niko Harrell in the 300-meter hurdles, junior Joel Latson in the 400 and junior Travis Toliver in the 110 hurdles and pole vault – and took first place in the 4x100 and 4x400 relays.

Several other Episcopal squads were on the cusp of championships, with the Knights finishing third in Division I boys soccer and Division I boys lacrosse and fourth in Division I girls volleyball, Division I girls soccer, wrestling and girls track and field.

The football, boys basketball and baseball teams failed to defend their titles; however, they didn't suffer significant drop-offs, losing to Dallas St. Mark's 56-21 in semifinals of the SPC large-school football playoffs and placing fifth in Division I boys hoops and Division I baseball.

"A couple of our teams were young, particularly boys basketball," Grove said. "Our four-year winning streak in baseball ended, but the majority of our players are coming back next season."

Episcopal also placed fifth in boys volleyball, girls cross country and Division I girls basketball, sixth in boys cross country and girls swimming and diving, seventh in Division I field hockey and Division I girls tennis, eighth in girls golf and ninth in boys golf.

The Knights slipped to a 14th-place tie in boys swimming and fell to Division II in boys tennis.

The SPC will abandon the two-division postseason format during the 2014-15 school year, with the top six teams from the North and South Zones advancing in sports with playoff brackets. Even with that major change, Grove is confident that Episcopal will do even better in the SPC next season, with an influx of talented underclassmen.

Grove noted that Episcopal has hired a number of up-and-coming coaches in recent years. For example, Travis Smith, a former collegiate standout at Lehigh University, had re-energized the boys soccer program, while former Rhodes College runner Ryan Call has done the same in boys and girls cross country.

"A lot of our coaches put on camps and clinics and reach out to the community," Grove said. "It's paying off. The number of applications at Episcopal is steadily increasing."

Grove added that Episcopal can open doors for aspiring student-athletes who want to continue their sports careers at the next level. Among the graduating seniors who signed national letters of intent with colleges were baseball players John Henry Styles (Stanford University) and Bryce Packard (McNeese State University), football player Colby Jones (Santa Barbara City College), basketball star Jamal Williams (Sam Houston State University), volleyball players Trey Sickler (Princeton University) and Sam DeLeon (Quincy University) and softball player Ashley Zapata (Stephen F. Austin University).

"Episcopal is a terrific option for those kids who want a quality education and the opportunity to work with some of finest coaches in Houston," Grove said.